The main target pest on maize is the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which, by their seasonal and geographical distribution is one of the most damaging species in tropical regions of America. The objective was the evaluation of S. frugiperda fitness stage on 17 host plant species, cultivated or wild, most common in the Brazilian agro ecosystem. The plants were cultivated in five planting times, between 2006 and 2008, using corn as standard of comparison. Newly hatched larvae of S. frugiperda were individualized and confined in 50 mL plastic pots, where they were fed with new leaves of each host. Food was replaced every other day with fresh leaf sections of each plant host. Four biological variables were evaluated and used to estimate the Fitness Index (FI). The initial larval survival ranged from 100% on maize to 46% on rice. The larval period ranged from 12.6 days on maize to 27.1 days on bahiagrass. The pupa biomass ranged from 173.1 mg on burgrass to 294.2 mg on maize. The fitness index, calculated on the base of S. frugiperda fitness on each host ranged from 17.43 on maize cultivated at time I to 1.46 on sugarcane cultivated at time III. In order to correct the time effect on S. frugiperda fitness stage on hosts, the Relative Fitness Index (RFI) was calculated in relation to maize crop. According to this index, the host rank to S. frugiperda fitness was in decreasing order: grain sorghum, johnson grass, millet, guinea grass, peanut, bread grass, surinam grass, green amaranth, wheat, soybean, cotton, bean, rice, burgrass, bahiagrass and sugarcane.
ecology; insect-plant interaction; pest management; fall armyworm
